David Sedaris and Projecting Sexual Orientations Through Speech - Research Paper Example

Your The David Sedaris and Projecting Sexual Orientations Through Speech I. Introduction David Sedaris is one of the most prolific writers in the postmodern literature. He is a multi-awarded humorist and a comedian. His works are generally comedic and funny, and they are usually first person accounts talking about his experiences in his own family. They are mostly self-deprecating in nature and that what makes his writing standout. David Sedaris is also openly-gay. His works also talks about his experiences that allow people to understand how it means to be gay in this modern world. This essay will tackle how is being gay allows him to have his characteristic voice on paper. II. David Sedaris as a writer Writers generally write about their experiences. As an essayist and a humorist, David Sedaris chronicles his experiences and more, in order for the people to get entertained. His works can be satirical and deadpan, or maybe even exaggerated. Whatever the style is, David Sedaris is a chronicler of life. And his life, whether you want to admit it or not, is really interesting, and that makes it very readable. But then again, David Sedaris is not a very special man. In fact, he is too much like the rest of the world, which is why many people read him. But the fact remains that he is sure interesting enough in order for the person to have such interesting experiences – experiences that lead the readers to enjoy a funny, vicarious experience. Why is this so? Why is David Sedaris genuinely interesting to the rest of the world? David Sedaris is an American writer, first and foremost. Most of his works focus on his experiences on being American: being American in America (as he recalled in “End of the Affair” in the book Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, for example), being American in Paris or being American in Japan, or wherever it was he went (such as the essays in When You Are Engulfed In Flames). He offers a different take on being American, and this is largely due to his colorful personality and his ability to appreciate reality. His works are funny largely because of the people around him which can be quite rambunctious and funny, all because they differ than most people. But generally, the observations made by Sedaris as an American are quite useful for the traveler, as they can actually use the information as tools for insight, as the self-deprecating humor can actually highlight the flaws on has for being who he is, which in this case, is being American. It offers non-biased, non-judgmental reflection on how it is to be an American, especially abroad. Add to the fact that he is a smoker, and how it means to be a smoker. Experiences which relate to being a smoker can be largely found in the book, When You Are Engulfed With Flames, especially being a smoker in foreign countries like France and Japan. But then his earlier work always through references to smoking, especially with his family: his mother and sisters are all smokers. This time, smoking is not preached as good or bad, it just is smoking. His being a smoker adds dimension to his persona, to his experiences. He is also not rich. He came from a working class family. His essays revolve on his experiences as a struggling writer. He was a cleaning guy in New York for some time. He was also an apple-picker once, just to take a stab at romanticism. Although they were not struggling as a family, his experiences as a young man (or boy) trying to make ends meet are hilarious. There is this essay where he talks about how obsessed he was at being rich. He was constant dreamer. That’s for sure, and his constant to be part of something grad, something that most people are not privy to, makes him a very good vessel for many who would also like to try his antics, but couldn’t. But he also suffered some tics. Maybe they were developmental tics at the time, who knows. In Naked, there is an essay called a “Plague of Tics”, casually making his experience with tics accessible to millions of readers. Apart from that, he exhibited many other obsessive-compulsive tendencies. All of which have been gone when he started to smoke. He was also forced to go to the school speech therapist for help him get rid of his lisp (“Go Carolina”, Me Talk Pretty One Day). He did not make a poignant and dramatic take on his condition, but rather a humorous and definitely reachable essay was made. Self-pity does not exist in Sedaris’s work. He is also openly gay. Many of his works feature his boyfriend Hugh, and it is not a secret, not taboo, when he talks about his partnership. His relationship with Hugh is actually one of the defining characteristics of Sedaris as a person, and of course, as a writer. This is because it sort of validates the fact that being gay is actually not something special or different. He also relates his experience about coming out to his family on “Hejira”, and gets kicked out of the house, and of course, his discovery that he was gay on the essay “I Like Guys”. III. Characteristics as a writer That is the reason why he works, probably. He can be the voice of the repressed society. Most of his stories reflect what most people want to do, or want to become. His works becomes the voice of the passive, which are what most people are. With his works come a confident voice; a voice that seems sure of himself that when readers come to read the essays, they can actually “borrow” that confidence from the author and at the same time relate to the author. Sedaris gives out an experience to the reader. Vicarious experiences such as these are always a welcome subject to people, especially those who crave something different. And Sedaris is always different. Sedaris’ writing style is casual. All essays are in the first person point of view. Sedaris disclosed in an interview with Wall Street Journal that he has maintained a diary ever since he has twenty years old. The diary-keeping behavior serves as his exercise in writing. All these waiting ever since he decided to write religiously, every day, he became responsible as a writer. IV. Techniques as a writer Having a hobby such as keeping journal can be a bit daunting but rewarding for a man such as Sedaris. Hobbies like having a journal are hard to maintain because of the responsibility that hangs on to that word. One should always write on a journal, keep score with the things around him, to document life around him. And of course, to document his own life every day. For David Sedaris, having a journal is like having his own idea book. As he said in his interview for The Daily Beast, “All I have to do is live”. He just practically opens up a journal and reads it. Any idea that can come across his fancy, he develops it and turns it into the subject of his own essay. The fact that his subjects come from a diary make it so personal. At some point, the memory had to be new and unprintable but David Sedaris conquers those possible monsters that limit a person into publishing anything personal, making him more admirable. His experiences, albeit neurotic at times, are also relatable. This is another reason why his works are so popular. He talked about his neighborhoods as if you have also lived there. He talks about his family as if you have known them. Casually, he drops his family problems on the table for everyone to read yet no one thinks that that is too much. He writes about her sister’s first day of having menstruation. He writes about his mother’s cigarette smoking behavior and the time when she had the cancer. He writes about how his younger brother was, all foul-mouthed and cute, now going to be a father. He writes about the lives of his sisters, all have their own idiosyncrasies to take care of. He writes about his experiences as a young gay man in America during the eighties and nineties. He writes about being not accepted in his own family because of his sexual orientation. Coupled with his talent for observing details and injecting that self-deprecating humor, David Sedaris continues to touch the lives of people. V. Writing Subjects Another reason why he is so popular among his readers is the fact that his subjects can be taboo but he does not treat it like a taboo subject. In fact, the best thing to have had happened in recent history for postmodern literature is the fact that some writers are open about these subjects. To write about what people believe are faults in a casual manner makes these faults insignificant, ultimately elevating the status of the subject. In these postmodern times, there is a huge trend of making things politically correct. This trend kind of makes things a little bit boring and clinical. It does not provide the punch and the edge that most politically correct literary pieces lack. David Sedaris writes sensitively, of course, but his regard for being politically correct is not quite important. He writes his personal accounts of his family, often satirizing them, but they never get disrespected. VI. Personal writeups Readers have this notion that David Sedaris writes essays at the expense of his family members as his essays continue to paint them in funny light. But when he writes, he says, “Whenever I write about my family, I start by getting their approval. I like to think I write about them with obvious affection. When it comes to the people I’m related to, I consider myself to be very lucky.” (The New Yorker, 2008). Affection is probably the next big characteristic that Sedaris has when writing. Although it may come off as a scathing observation sometimes, Sedaris pegs his family, like most American middle class families, with an accurate portrayal by using his own words. His works are actually put under the nonfiction aisle in the bookstore. Some critics have disagreed with this as they say that his works are not entirely true. Some people also say that his works are memoirs. Both of them are parried by Sedaris. Of course the works are not entirely true. Writing is remaking reality based on how one perceives reality. Naturally, one can exaggerate certain details just so he can produce the right kind of entertainment he wants his readers to experience. The readers know this as Sedaris knows this aspect too. So the bottom line is, nonfiction or not, it contains the truth about his own reality and that’s what matters. The business about memoirs is a bit tricky. Although his works are personal accounts of a person living in a certain environment, he prefers not to call them memoirs. For him, “I wouldn't call it memoir. If I had to call them anything I'd call them comic essays. For some reason, and I don't know why I think this, I've always thought of memoir as more of a whole -- I think of "Angela's Ashes," which is a whole book that begins at one point and ends at another point. My books are choppier than that. Often there are stories about things, not about people about all” (Wall Street Journal, 2008). VII. Sexual Orientation in Writing But then a stark realization for some people would be his sexual orientation being projected through his speech. According to an article in the Journal of Sociolinguistics and Language and Linguistics Compass, “the phonetic parameters that convey gay, lesbian, or bisexual identities are not whole-sale approximation of opposite sex norms, nor does the perception of sexual orientation through speech appear to involve the simple perception of the sex typicality of a talker's voice. “ (Munson and Babel, 2007). But they also say that “studies show some individuals speak in a way that conveys their sexual orientation to naive listeners.” Reading David Sedaris does not tell the reader if he is gay or not, just by looking at the use of words. Or even if read aloud, his writing style is not reminiscent of other obviously homosexual authors. Were it not for his stories regarding his boyfriend, David Sedaris’ sexuality is not obvious through his writing. VIII. Conclusion His characteristic voice is not dependent on his sexuality. His experiences are not determined by his sexuality. Well, maybe a little bit but not entirely. Being homosexual has nothing to do with his skill and talent, as well as the decency and honesty that he puts in the things that he writes. References: Hughes, Robert. “Five Questions for David Sedaris”. The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones and Company: New York, 22 May 2008. Print. Munson, B. and Babel, M. (2007), Loose Lips and Silver Tongues, or, Projecting Sexual Orientation Through Speech. Language and Linguistics Compass, 1: 416–449. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-818X.2007.00028 Schrobsdorff, Susanna. “All You Have To Do Is Live” Newsweek. Newsweek: New York, 29 May 2008. Print. Sedaris, David. “Ask the Author”. The New Yorker. Conde Nast: New York, 19 August 2009. Print. Sedaris, David. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denims. Little, Brown and Co: New York, 2004. Print. Sedaris, David. Me Talk Pretty One Day. Little, Brown and Co: New York, 2000. Print. Sedaris, David. Naked. Little, Brown and Co: New York, 1997. Print. Sedaris, David. When You Are Engulfed In Flames. Little, Brown and Co: New York, 2008. Print. Outline I. Introduction II. David Sedaris as a writer III. Characteristics as a writer IV. Techniques as a writer V. Writing Subjects VI. Personal writeups VII. Sexual Orientation in Writing VIII. Conclusion Read More